Tag: Henderson Silver Knights

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Joachim Blichfeld helped the San Jose Barracuda save face and his head coach reach a new milestone

Blichfeld scored the eventual game winning goal late in the third period as the ‘Cuda responded after giving up a three-goal lead in the third period in a 6-3 victory over the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday evening at SAP Center.

For San Jose head coach Roy Sommer, it was his 800th win of his AHL career. He already holds the record for most wins by a coach in the history of the league.

“I’m glad it’s over with,” Sommer said with relief after the game. “A lot of wins, a lot of years it took to get it. (Doing it) with the same organization, I guess it makes it that much sweeter.”

San Jose snapped its two-game losing streak. Henderson had its four-game winning streak end with the loss.

Cole Moberg found Blichfeld in the left slot and the Danish native sniped home a wrist shot past Silver Knights goalie Dylan Ferguson for his 11th goal of the season with 5:40 remaining in the third period to give San Jose a 4-3 lead.

“We talked before the faceoff and I said I was pulling back and he (Molberg) found me. I was really wide open, and I just went for it and luckily it went in,” Blichfeld said.

San Jose (12-15-1-0) drew first blood in the first period. Joachim Blichfeld put a backhander wide of the net. The puck caromed off the back boards back in front the crease where Sasha Chmelevski cashed in a point-blank shot past Ferguson for his sixth goal of the season at the 12:13 mark.

A scary moment happened earlier in the opening frame. Henderson forward Colt Conrad slammed headfirst into the end boards while chasing after a loose puck. Conrad hobbled off the ice with blood rushing from his leg into the Zamboni area before being attended to medically. He left the area on a stretcher and did not return to the game.

Henderson (15-8-2-1) outshot San Jose 8-7 in the first period but headed into the first intermission trailing by a goal as ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk played a perfect period.

San Jose doubled its lead on the power play early in the second period. John Leonard fired a shot on net that Krystof Hrabik wasn’t able to put in the rebound. Chmelevski crashed in while Ferguson was down on his back and slipped the puck into the net for his second goal of the game and seventh of the season at the 4:03 mark.

Silver Knights center Pavel Dorofeyev was unlucky when he rang a wrist shot off the cross bar late in the middle frame off a two-on-one short-handed opportunity.

The Barracuda scored its third unanswered goal a minute into the third period. Leonard led an odd man attack and from along the left boards found Jake McGrew in between the face off circles. McGrew wired a wrist shot past Ferguson to the short side for his fourth goal of the season at the 1:05 mark.

Henderson did not go down quietly as they scored two goals in a 54 second span. Jonas Rondbjerg wired a wrist shot from the left slot that beat Melnichuk for his seventh goal of the season at the 4:42 mark.

Then Adam Brooks centered a pass from behind the net out to an open Sven Bartschi who buried a one-timer past Melnichuk for his fifth goal of the season at the 5:36 mark.

The Silver Knights scored the equalizer when Ben Jones made a backhand centering pass from behind the net and Reid Duke slammed home a one-timer past Melnichuk for his first goal of the season at the 11:56 mark.

Overlooked at the end was Chmelevski completing his first career AHL hattrick when he scored an empty net goal, his eighth of the season, at the 17:45 mark after Henderson pulled Ferguson for an extra attacker.

“Obviously I think we’ll (Sommer and I) both remember it,” Chmelevski said. “It feels good. I’m most proud of how the team responded after they tied it up. That’s not easy to give up a three-goal lead like that. But we responded the right way. That’s what counts.”

Mark Alt completed the game’s scoring with his own empty netter, his second of the season, from deep inside the ‘Cuda zone with 1:35 remaining in the game to seal the victory.

Melnichuk finished the game stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced to earn the victory. Ferguson made 26 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-4 on the power play. Henderson was 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Chmelevski 2) Leonard 3) Blichfeld

The San Jose Sharks have informed Evander Kane that he has been placed on unconditional waivers with intent to terminate his contract for breach of his NHL Standard Player Contract and for violation of the AHL COVID-19 protocols. The Club will have no further comment on this matter.

The Barracuda are now 3-6-1-0 lifetime against the Golden Knights’ top affiliate, with all three wins coming in San Jose.

UP NEXT: San Jose continue their four-game homestand on Wednesday 1/12 as they host the Tucson Roadrunners at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

The Henderson Silver Knights handled the San Jose Barracuda at SAP in San Jose on Fri Jan 7, 2022 (San Jose Barracuda image)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Christmas holiday has been over for the past two weeks but the San Jose Barracuda continued to gift wrap goals to the opposition.

Turnovers and infertility on the power play doomed the ‘Cuda in a 5-1 loss to the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost their past two games. Henderson have won four games in a row. They have points in seven straight (6-0-1-0) and are 8-2-1-0 over their last 11 games.

San Jose (11-15-1-0) played shorthanded with only dressing 11 forwards and six defensemen as there have been changes to the roster with the San Jose Sharks bringing up seven players from the ‘Cuda.

Henderson (15-7-2-1) drew first blood late in the first period on the power play. Pavel Dorofeyev and Ben Jones combined to find Connor Cocoran along the left slot and Cocoran’s one-timer beat ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey for a tic-tac-toe of a goal, Cocoran’s second of the season at the 13:22 mark.

The Barracuda had 10 shots in the opening frame, but Silver Knights goalie Jiri Patera was perfect through the first 20 minutes.

Henderson doubled its lead nine seconds into the second period. A turnover by the ‘Cuda inside their own zone led to Dorofeyev roofing a wrist shot from the right wing past Harvey for his 11th goal of the season.

San Jose cut the lead in half under three minutes later with a short-handed goal. John Leonard stripped the puck off of Peter DiLiberatore in the neutral zone. Leonard skated in and from the left slot snapped home a wrist shot top shelf past Patera for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:39 mark.

It was the seventh short-handed goal the Barracuda have scored this season.

The Silver Knights regained its two-goal lead thanks to another Barracuda turnover. Ben Jones pick-pocketed the puck away from Santeri Hatakka. Jones skated backwards toward the crease where his initial shot was stopped by Harvey. However, the native of Waterloo, Ontario poked home his own rebound for his 11th goal of the season at the 7:00 mark.

Henderson scored its second power play of the game halfway through the middle frame. Lucas Elvenes found Cocoran along the left wing and the Silver Knight defenseman scorched a one-timer past Harvey for his second goal of the game and third of the season at the 9:15 mark.

The Silver Knights scored its fourth goal of the middle frame when Dorofeyev sent a puck toward the net from the end line and Jake Leschyshyn redirected past Harvey for his seventh goal of the season 15:21 mark.

‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer replaced Harvey in goal with Alexei Melnichuk to start the third period. Harvey finished with 17 saves on 22 shots in 40 minutes of action.

San Jose had a five-on-three power play opportunity in the beginning of the third period but weren’t able to generate any quality scoring chances as Henderson was able to kill it off without much difficulty.

Patera finished the evening stopping 27 of the 28 he faced to earn the victory. Melnichuk handled all six shots he had to deal with in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Henderson was 2-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Dorofeyev 2) Corcoran 3) Patera

Sommer sits just one victory shy of 800 in his career. The Oakland, Calif., native has been behind the bench for 1,700 games in the AHL, going 799-694-48-160 (W-L-T-OTL/SOL) over that span. During the 2015-16 season, the Barracuda’s first in San Jose, Sommer surpassed Fred “Bun” Cook (636 wins) for the most wins in AHL history, notching a 4-2 victory on Feb. 10, 2016, over Ontario. Sommer collected his 700th win on Dec. 3, 2017, at Bakersfield (2-1 W).

Forward Evander Kane did not play as he still on the Covid-19 protocol.

The Sharks recalled goaltender Adin Hill, defensemen Ryan Merkley and Jaycob Megna, and forwards Nick Merkley, Adam Raska, Scott Reedy, Jayden Halbgewachs, and Jasper Weatherby. In a corresponding move, the Barracuda recalled forward Kyle Topping of the Orlando Solar Bears on Thursday.

Artemi Kniazev and Timur Ibragimov have been added to Covid-19 protocol.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Henderson conclude their two-game series on Saturday 1/8 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

The San Jose Barracuda battling it out with the Henderson Silver Knights in game 2 of the Pacific Division Finals at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Sun May 23, 2021 (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS, Nev.–The Henderson Silver Knights scored three goals off of special teams en route to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Orleans Arena.

Henderson swept the best of three series and now will wait to host the winner of the San Diego Gulls-Bakersfield Condors semifinal series in the Pacific Division Finals. The winner of that series receives the John D. Chick trophy. San Jose ends their season having lost their last five games against the Silver Knights.

San Jose drew first blood on the first shot of the game just 40 seconds into the first period. Jacob Middleton threw a puck up to the neutral zone that sprung a two-on-one rush with Jake McGrew and Jayden Halbgewachs. McGrew skated down the left slot and snapped home a wrist shot past Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson for his second goal of the playoffs.

Ivan Chekhovic was injured during a collision with a Brayden Pachal inside the Silver Knights zone with 10:45 left in the first period. Pachal was given a five-minute major for interference. It appeared Pachal delivered a knee-on-knee hit to Chekhovich. Kyle Topping received a penalty for roughing Pachal after the whistle was blown.

Chekhovic didn not return to the game.

Henderson answered back with a short-handed goal while killing the major penalty to Pachal. Gage Quinney carried the puck out its own zone and skated down the right wing where he used Robby Russo as a screen as he fired a wrist shot that beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar to the far side for his first goal of the playoffs at the 12:26 mark. Kaedan Korczak received the only assist on the play.

Quinney had three short-handed goals during the regular season.

Henderson gained its first lead of the game early in the second period. Paul Cotter sent a pass up to center ice over to Tomas Jurco from inside his own zone. Jurco skated in made a move and beat Korenar with a wrist shot for his first goal of the playoffs at the 1:59 mark.

The Silver Knights went up 3-1 less than three minutes later with its second short-handed goal of the game. A turnover in the neutral zone led to a two-on-one opportunity led by Danny O’Regan. The ‘Cuda killer haunted his old team once again as his wrist show beat Korenar for his first goal of the playoffs at the 4:47 mark.

San Jose made up for the shortie the gave up with a power play goal late on the man advantage. A shot from the left slot from Middleton was saved by Thompson but the rebound bounced around the crease. Maxim Letunov crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound with a backhander past Thompson for his second goal of the playoffs at the 6:24 mark.

The Silver Knights regained its two-goal lead with a power play goal of its own halfway through the second period. Ryan Murphy found O’Regan along the right slot. O’Regan’s initial shot was blocked but he followed up his own shot and put home the rebound past Korenar for his second goal of the game at the 9:06 mark.

The third period went scoreless as Henderson out shot San Jose nine to eight.

Thompson finished the game stopping 30 of the 32 shots he faced to earn the victory. Korenar suffered his second straight loss as he made 24 saves on 28 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1-for-5 on the power play. Henderson was 1-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) O’Regan 2) Jurco 3) Quinney

The San Jose Barracuda will be battling with everything on the line in game 2 down 1-0 to the Henderson Golden Knights in the AHL Pacific Division semifinals at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas (photo from @sjbarracuda)

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Henderson Silver Knights proving to be the successful AHL minor league affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights proved why they and their parent club is so successful with a three goal 4-1 convincing win over the San Jose Barracuda on Friday night at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

#2 Marko talk about Barracuda goaltender Josef Korenar and who face 30 shots and allowed two goals to the Knights in game one of this playoff round a tough night for Korenar.

#3 The Knights Logan Thompson stopped 22 of 23 shots allowing the Barracuda’s Jayden Halbgewachs the only San Jose goal for the night.

#4 Look out for the Knights Jack Dugan who scored a hat trick scoring two empty netters talk about taking advantage of a short handed situation.

#5 Barracuda and Knights square off again Sunday night at Orleans Arena the Knights are holding the home ice advantage and are coming off a three goal win against from game 1 and after Dugan’s hat trick this team has a strong offense. Can Cuda head coach Roy Sommer and the Barracuda even up this series?

Join Marko for the Barracuda podcast Saturday nights at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The Henderson Silver Knights center Jake Leschyshyn (39) and the San Jose Barracuda defenceman Brinson Pasichnuk (50) scramble for the puck on open ice during game 1 of the Pacific Division Semifinals on Fri May 21, 2021 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS, Nev.–The Henderson Silver Knights opened their first ever playoff game with a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda in game one of the Pacific Division Semifinals on Friday evening at Orleans Arena.

Henderson went up 1-0 in the best of three Pacific Division semifinals series. The Barracuda kept the game close throughout the majority of the game until the Silver Knights put the game away with a couple of empty net goals.

The Silver Knights drew first blood on an even strength goal in the first period. A clearing attempt by ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar went out of the reach of Jacob Middleton. Brayden Pachal collected the puck along the right boards and wristed a shot towards the net where Jack Dugan redirected past Korenar for his first goal of the playoffs at the 8:20 mark.

San Jose answered back late in the opening 20 minutes. Jake McGrew fired in a shot from the right wing and Jayden Halbgewachs, who was camped out in front of the crease, tipped home the puck past Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson for his first goal of the playoffs at the 15:02 mark.

The Barracuda out shot the Silver Knights 11-9 in the first period.

Henderson regained the lead halfway through the second period. Maxim Marushev led a two-on-one odd man rush with Pavel Dorofeyev. Marushev threaded a pass over to Dorofeyev who skated in and slipped a bandhander through the five-hole of Korenar for his first goal of the playoffs at the 10:19 mark.

Dorofeyev scored four of his nine goals during the regular season against San Jose.

Henderson out shot San Jose 14-7 in the middle frame.

San Jose had a chance to score the equalizer with a power play halfway through the third period but weren’t able to capitalize on its only chance with the man advantage.

Dugan iced the game with his two empty net goals at the end of the game. His first empty netter (and second of the game) came at the 18:32 mark. Then he completed the hat trick with his second empty netter with 19 seconds left.

Thompson finished the game with 22 shots on 23 shots to earn the victory. Korenar made 30 saves on 32 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0-for-1 on the power play. Henderson was 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Dorofeyev 2) Dugan 3) Thompson

UP NEXT: Game 2 is slated for Sunday 5/23 at 1:00pm at Orleans Arena.

The San Jose Barracuda and Henderson Silver Knights battled on Tue May 11, 2021 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the final regular season game (@sjbarracuda photo)

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (15-15-4-2) closed out their regular season dropping a two goal game to the Henderson Silver Knights (24-12-0-0) 3-1 last Tuesday night at the Orleans Arena

#2 Barracuda goalie Zach Sawchenko had a tough loss allowing two goals and facing 29 shots in the loss

#3 The Barracuda’s Evan Weinger scored San Jose’s only goal with just 20 seconds left in the second period.

#4 The Barracuda’s Maxim Letunov got an assist on Tuesday and now has points in three consecutive games.

#5 The Barracuda are in a single elimination play in game to determine who gets the fourth seed on May 18 at Irvine

Join Marko for the Barracuda podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS, Nev–The Henderson Silver Knights defeated the San Jose Barracuda 3-1 in the ‘Cuda’s regular season finale on Tuesday evening at Orleans Arena.

San Jose finished the regular season on a four-game losing streak as they whimper into the play in-game of the Pacific Division playoffs on May 18th. Henderson have won three games in a row and finish the regular season with three games against the Bakersfield Condors.

Henderson (24-12-0-0) drew first blood late in the first period. Paul Cotter sent a shot in on ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko that was kicked out to the left slot and Ben Jones skated in and cleaned up the rebound beating Sawchenko with a wrist shot for his seventh goal of the season at the 13:32 mark.

Jones snapped an 11-game goal less draught.

Chaz Reddekopp and Zach Hayes danced the tango at the 14:17 mark in a spirited battle at center ice.

San Jose (15-15-4-2) out shot Henderson 17-9, but were left frustrated heading into the first intermission as Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson was perfect in the opening 20 minutes.

Henderson doubled its lead on the power play early in the second period. Gage Quinney found ‘Cuda killer Dann O’Regan in the right slot and his shot ricochet off the skate of Jacob Megna through the five-hole of Sawchenko for O’Regan’s team leading 14th goal of the season at the 3:47 mark.

O’Regan, whose goal proved to be the game winner, scored six goals and 10 points against his former team this season.

San Jose finally solved the riddle known as Thompson late in the middle frame. Brandon Coe sent a pass down to Maxim Letunov down the right end line. Letunov quickly spun around and centered a pass to the back post where Evan Weinger slammed home a one-timer past the five-hole of Thompson for his fourth goal of the season at the 19:40 mark.

Weinger snapped a five-game goal less draught.

The Barracuda had a chance to tie the game up late in the third period when they had a five-on-three power play opportunity with 3:23 left in the third period. However, they weren’t able to generate any quality scoring chances as the Silver Knights ended the threat by killing off both penalites.

Jake Leschyshyn sealed the deal for Henderson with an empty net goal at the 19:20 mark. The 2017 second round draft pick of the Vegas Golden Knights scored his fifth goal of the season.

Thompson finished the game stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced to earn his 15th win of the season and fourth versus the ‘Cuda this season. Sawchenko (1-3) made 27 saves on 29 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0-for-4 on the power play. Henderson went 1-for-3.

The Barracuda have given up a power play goal in seven straight games and 11 out of its last 12.

Mason Primeau received the secondary assist on Jones’ goal in the first period. Mason is the son of former San Jose Sharks player Wayne Primeau, who played for the Sharks from 2003-2006.

San Jose finished the season with a 5-9-3 record on the road.

The announced attendance was 2,021.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) O’Regan 2) Jones 3) Thompson

UP NEXT: The Barracuda will play in the play-in game on Tuesday 5/18. Team and time TBD.